New Fortnite: Battle Royale “Take To The Skies” Game Mode Leaked Ahead Of Today’s New 2.2.0 Map Update

Fortnite is a perpetual base-building zombie survival defense game and third-person shooter boasting over 40 million players in its new free-to-play version, Fortnite: Battle Royale, inspired by games like the original ArmA II mod, H1Z1: King of the Kill, and PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds but considerably different due to the higher quality polish on the title overall and completely game-changing base-building aspect.

Recently the game has reached over 40 million registered players making it the most popular Battle Royale game with over 2 million concurrent players at once.

If you haven’t heard of the newly emerging sub-genre Battle Royale yet, it began on PC and has existed for years now in the form of mods. The basic concept of the Battle Royale is that 100 players all drop out of a plane into one enormous map and, as they land unarmed, must search their landing area for weapons and supplies. Every man is for himself and you can die from the most unexpected ways. There is a large circle spawned on the map, suddenly players have to make sure they are within this chosen area as it gets smaller, this is the only safe area outside of which a mysterious force will kill you. Eventually the safe zone is only large enough for one person to survive in and players make their way to it together fighting to the death with all they’ve gained looting thus far. The safe zones won’t be the same every match, so you never know where you’ll have to go exactly.

Fortnite does add a twist to this concept by having base-building as part of the game, but many times players must abandon the base to get to the safe zone. There are even some amazing players who can rapidly deploy base-building maneuvers in wildly unexpected ways that have been making the rounds in Fortnite highlight reels online as well. The battles are epic and seem like something of an ancient wizard face-off as platforms fly around everywhere being whimsically crafted brick by brick only with modern guns and swords usually involved as the ending result. But this is just the start of a genre we’d frankly like to see a lot more creativity from, and it seems recent news reports and leaks show Epic Games and Fortnite could be the only ones to do it.

Remember the 50 vs 50 Game Mode?

It all started with a Limited Time Only 50 versus 50 Game Mode for Fortnite: Battle Royale in which two teams would face off in the Battle Royale rather than every man for himself, duo (2 man teams), and squads (4 man teams) modes currently existing. Surprisingly, simple tweaks and creative game modes like this have actually not been tried much at all with regards to past Battle Royale games, and the sub-genre needs more of it or else it will become stale quickly for players over the coming months. And with both PubG and Fornite boasting a combined almost 100 million players both pay-to-play and free-to-play models of the game don’t want their hyped up, incredible growth to die down anytime soon.

The New Map Update & Patch Today 2.2.0 (1.35 PS4):

While Today marks the day of Fornite 2.2.0 Patch (also known as 1.35 for PS4 for some reason, but it’s the same patch), the game’s development team took the concept of reworking their map rather than introducing a new one at this time such as PubG has chosen to do. They’ve broken down the map into separate biomes in order to make each part feel like a truly different terrain, look, and feel to the area. There’s also the changes below:

More Content Per Square Inch

Less Wide Open Places To Run And Get Shot Out In The Open

Underground City: Mining city underground that can be used to build underground bases, and more.

New City: Another new city above ground.

Biomes: Enriched environmental features.

Discount Bundles on Battle Passes and increased Battle Pass Bonuses.

Winter Wrap Up Event 2017: The End of An Era, Now On To 2018 Content and removal of some winter items in Battle Royale, but Save The World Winter events have been extended until January 24, 2018.

Voice Chat Added to Pre-Game Lobby

*See FULL PATCH NOTES Below the New Leaked Info Below!!!

Leaked: New Game Modes Possibly Coming to Fornite: Battle Royale!

A reddit user named haubna allegedly has located photo evidence of files within Fornite: Battle Royale’s new updated content pointing to the existence of even more game modes possibly being planned by the team at Epic Games. Keep in mind the actual purposes and descriptions of these games are just our own best guesses at RGN as to their meanings combined with rumblings in the fanbase and community of the Fornite game itself. All we know for sure right now are that these files exist in the game for a reason but may take some different final form and name if/when they ever get released.

FasterRings:

This is likely a mode where the safe zone is going to get smaller a lot faster, forcing players to rush to the finish in a quicker, more competitive and aggressive version of the classic Fornite: Battle Royale match.

TakeToTheSkies:

Nobody is quite sure what exactly this mode will be. The best guess seems to be that this game mode will simply be a more vertically-focused base-building experience. The “sky-bridges” and sky stairways we’ve all been building for fun or for strategic reasons could actually become a requirement in a mode like this where players might be forced to move upwards to stay safe as the safe zone rises in altitude. If so, there could also be an increased use in Launch Pads and Sky Bases could be a huge building experience. Hopefully this could be used for some large teams, but either way the potential is exciting.

LotsaLoot:

This may be a modifier for the game in which less of a survival experience is expected and more of a full-blown war and unrestricted online battles occur. Think of this as a larger arena with more weapons, building materials, and online opponents who also have more of these things.

RocketsAndGrenades:

This mode is expected to be similar to the classic version of the game but with tons of grenades, rocket launchers, and explosive materials / weaponry in order to encourage lots of base-building and base-destroying as well as just tons of mayhem.

SneakySilencers:

This mode actually did already debut in the game, and although I personally didn’t get a chance to play it – many players are excited for its return. In this mode, only silenced weaponry could be found in the game and there was an increase in shields as well as healing items while many other items were not featured in their normal amount. This created a totally new spin on the game and was presented in the 4 player squads version only.

SnipersOnly:

This one sort of tells itself. Although it opens more questions than answers at the same time. Obviously, it’s for sniping weaponry only. But we don’t know how much base-building will still matter, what other changes will be introduced to the game in order to make this mode stand-out, or if it’s literally just the simple modifier of Snipers only. Either way, it’s great to see some new ideas for what Battle Royale can be.

If Epic Games is able to rotate these modes in a way that keeps all of the available modes at any given time full, that would also be a great achievement. With 40 million installed players that should be do-able.

*Full 2.2.0 (1.35 PS4) Patch Notes:

PATCH NOTES – BATTLE ROYALE

WEAPONS

Removed the Scoped AR from Supply Drops.

Updated the scope for the Scoped AR.

Replaced the old arrow reticle with a more modern design. It should be easier to tell where you are aiming and where your crosshair actually is.

The Snowball Launcher has been replaced by the normal Grenade Launcher.

Fixed an issue where the grenade toss animation ended prematurely when tossing the last grenade in a stack.

The Boogie Bomb effect will now kick players out of weapon targeting.

Players can no longer place traps while affected by the Boogie Bomb.

Explosion effects now play properly on water surfaces.

GAMEPLAY

Friendly Fire is now disabled. This is exploratory and subject to change. We will be closely evaluating this and want your feedback!

Players will now immediately aim their weapon upon landing on the ground if they press and hold the aim button while in the air.

Pickups no longer take priority over reviving DBNO squad members.

Empty chests and metal street lights will no longer block players from building.

Corn stalks are now destroyed upon taking any damage.

Bug Fixes

Adjusted how ammo crates drop ammo so that they don’t overlap the ammo box itself.

Attempting to use a scope while playing an emote will now cancel the animation.

Fixed an issue that prevented players from picking up eliminated player’s items.

Fixed a few issues which caused supply drops to pass through player built structures.

Fixed an issue which caused a trap to deal no damage if a ramp or roof is placed in front of the trap.

Build mode visuals no longer persist when using a Launch Pad or when knocked into the DBNO state.

Fixed an issue that allowed players to see through the smoke grenade effect while scoped.

You can now move forward and backward while gliding when facing straight up and down.

The Cozy Campfire trap no longer heals eliminated players.

Fixed an issue which caused the glider to sometimes deploy sideways after using a launchpad.

WORLD

The map has been updated with many new points of interest, biomes, and more!

Players now interact with grass and foliage as they walk through it.

Added water effects when entering and exiting water.

Added a new post-process effect for when your camera goes below the water surface.

It will now look like you are actually underwater, and you can no longer see for an infinite distance.

Added Ammo Boxes to Dusty Depot.

Increased the amount of metal harvested from shipping containers.

Bug Fixes

Water no longer blocks bullets and projectiles.

ITEM SHOP

Starting on January 17th, 2018 players should see six daily store slots instead of four.

Starting on January 21st, 2018 the Weekly Item shop is changing to the Featured Item Shop.

Offers will update twice weekly instead of once.

UI

Sniper elimination feed messages now include elimination distance in meters.

When spectating a far away player, a “loading” message may be displayed for a short time, and the game world will appear after loading completes. You cannot switch to another spectated player until the load completes.

The “Reset Building Choice” option now defaults to “Off” in Battle Royale.

Added a new option to select which voice chat input device to use.

Bug Fixes

The “Select Mode” button is now greyed out and unselectable after readying up.

When selecting “Report Player” the “Name” field will no longer auto-fill the the player’s own name.

Adjusted the “Cancel/Unready” button so it looks more like the “Ready” button.

The “Press E to Pickup” prompt no longer persists for DBNO players.

Fixed an issue that made the voice chat icon appear to be active if the player disabled their voice chat while it was active.

Fixed an issue which caused the revive icon to remain over a player if two players revived them at the same time.

Players will now be able to unready if the party leader cancels matchmaking while in the “Loading Content” phase.

The matchmaking UI will now properly update when joining a different Battle Royale lobby while the user is set to Ready.

Fixed local user always showing up in the global leaderboard with 0 wins if they aren’t in the global top 50 list.

PERFORMANCE

Added level streaming, which loads the world on-the-fly as you move around, enabling a richer map and improved performance.

Improved frame rate by greatly reducing the number of objects that need to be updated.

Loading times have been greatly improved. It’s over twice as fast to load into the match on PS4 and Xbox One!

Loading content before matchmaking now completes quicker.

Greatly reduced hitching when garbage collecting memory every minute.

Greatly reduced hitching caused by updating objects when the time of day changes from day to night, and vice-versa.

Reduced the amount of system and GPU memory used.

Optimized the visual effects played when distant buildings are hit.

Improved overall frame rate by optimizing how player animation and footsteps are handled.

Cozy Campfire and Boogie Bomb items no longer cause a hitch when seen the first time in a match.

Encountering players with specific skins for the first time in a match no longer causes a hitch.

ART/ANIMATION

Greatly improved the visual quality of distant trees by using impostor billboards instead of regular meshes. This also improves overall frame rate and reduces visual popping as you approach the trees.

Bug Fixes

Fixed an issue that could cause remote players to look like they have stopped animating.

Improved the “Ride the Pony” animation so the character’s arm no longer pops.

Players will no longer appear as if they are still holding a weapon after being hit by a Boogie Bomb.

Fixed an issue that prevented the character’s launch animation from playing if a Launch Pad is placed directly at a player’s feet.

Adjusted the color of the Shield Potion so that’s easier to see.

Fixed an issue that caused teammates to appear stuck in the sliding animation if they were knocked DBNO while in the air or sliding.

Cozy Campfire special effects are now visible on low and medium settings.

AUDIO

Added new audio for pickaxes that were previously using default swing sounds.

Added a pick-up sound effect for the damage trap.

Bug Fixes

Fixed an issue which caused footstep sounds to play at an incorrect cadence or not at all while a player is not on screen.

Consumable item audio is now adjusted with the SFX volume slider rather than the Dialogue slider.

Fixed an issue which caused players to hear bullet “whiz-by” sounds from their own shots.

Fixed an issue that sometimes caused a falling wind sound to loop repeatedly after being eliminated.

Gunfire audio will no longer pan to the left & right as you move away from where you shot.

Reduced volume of consumable pick-up sounds.

Reduced volume of collection sound when harvesting wood.

Fixed issues with rapid left/right panning when dropping weapons, and attempting to build in an invalid location.

Removed the jarring stone impact sound from the AC/DC pickaxe.

GENERAL

Voice chat now supported in the pre-game lobby.

Cosmetic items can now be rotated in the locker and store pages. Left click and drag or use the right thumbstick on the controller to rotate them.

Removed the winter theme from the pre-game lobby.

Bug Fixes

Fixed an issue which allowed players to get credit for completing challenges that were not completed.

Fixed an issue which allowed aim assist to function while using a mouse.

Friend requests can now be sent to players that have left the match, using the + icon next to their name.

Clicking “Join” on a Discord invite when the client is not open would will no longer cause you to fail when trying to join a party.

PATCH NOTES – SAVE THE WORLD

GAMEPLAY

Bug Fixes

Shielders will now properly drop quest items for “Loks Book of Monsters” quest.

Fixed an issue with the Grenade Generation perk. The player is now rewarded with a grenade after eliminating 20 enemies rather than 21.

Fixed an issue where the pickaxe heavy attack was not harvesting resources.

Fixed an issue where the Shielder enemy would flicker after the Husk it was shielding was defeated.

Fixed an issue that caused quest highlights on objects to disappear when building near the object.

Fixed an issue that caused some parties to disband after a game.

HEROES

Added clarification to the tooltip of the Constructor ability, “DECOY”.

It now states it’s made of metal, and thus vulnerable to nature damage.

Bug Fixes

Impact from abilities will now properly scale with Hero Ability Damage. As a result abilities will now correctly stagger, stun, and knockback enemies at high levels.

Fixed an issue where proximity mines wouldn’t disappear when the player who placed them left the match or died.

Fixed an issue where frag grenades could still be used even when the player didn’t have enough stamina to use it.

Fixed an issue where the Soldier’s “Advanced Tactics” health bonus wasn’t properly scaling in the late game.

Fixed an issue where the Frag Grenade perk “Cluster Bomb” was triggering twice rather than just once.

Fixed the tool-tip for Air Strike which incorrectly stated that Air Strike drops 12 bombs, instead of 13.

Fixed an issue where the Outlander Fragment abilities TEDDY and Shock Tower weren’t receiving the energy damage bonus from the Energized support perk.

UI

The Commander XP curve has been inflated to make way for front-end crafting. This is to ensure that low-value items (e.g. ammo) are worth at least 1 Commander XP when crafted in the main menus.

Commander XP will appear larger than it did previously, but the amount of Commander XP you have earned toward your next level has been preserved, and the time it takes to level up remains unchanged.

Increased players’ current Daily Bonus XP and current Boost XP reserves to match the new Commander XP scale.

Squad screens will no longer show health and shield as being buffed at all times. It will instead properly show the buff/debuff arrows on health and shield stats when previewing slotting.

Bug Fixes

Fixed a localization issue in the Transform menu.

Fixed an issue where the game background would move while using a controller to view the mission details.

Fixed an issue which caused players to lose menu functionality after leaving a party.

Fixed a Research skill tree node that was missing a prerequisite.

Now the Research Tier 3 Party Resistance node requires Party Tech and Party Resistance.

Fixed an issue where recent player lists weren’t populating immediately after a game.

ART/ANIMATION

Bug Fixes

Corrected flame animation rotation on the Lobber head.

GENERAL

Searched chests and containers will no longer block players from building.

Cornstalks are no longer searchable.

Your game window will now properly appear on the primary monitor.

Bug Fixes

Fixed a rare crash on Xbox One.

Editor’s Note: RealGamerNewZ has moved web servers, some older posts can no longer be commented on and have been preserved without their images. Thank you for your understanding in this matter. This article was written by Jon Ireson on 20180118 and was last modified on 20180324 .